Persistant changes on configuration files [Paperless]

Feature
1

Hi,

I’m having problems where Paperless does not save the configuration changes, so I need to apply the changes manually.

How can such changes persist?

The problem I have is with documents with digital signature:

Thanks,

2

There are different solutions in the thread but basically an environment variable seems needed to achieve the wanted configuration.

You could try to add the variable including its value and restart the services to apply the config.

To edit the environment variables for paperless:

runagent -m paperlessngx1 nano paperless-ngx.env

You can restart paperless in Software Center or on CLI:

runagent -m paperlessngx1 systemctl --user restart paperless

This is not a real solution as reconfiguration of the app removes the variable again but if we know which variable and value solves your issue, we can implement it.
cc @oneitonitram

1 Like
3

Hi @mrmarkuz ,

This is what I’m adding to the config:

PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS={"invalidate_digital_signatures": true}

Then I’m going to the control panel and saving it.

Then it works for the day, then the next day it comes back to the original.

Thanks,

Best regards,

4

Is it a config file where you add this setting? If yes, where is the config file located?

Following paths are included in (persistent) volumes (see ns8-paperless-ngx/imageroot/systemd/user/paperless-server.service at main · compgeniuses/ns8-paperless-ngx · GitHub)

    --volume=paperlessngx-data:/usr/src/paperless/data \
    --volume=paperlessngx-media:/usr/src/paperless/media \
    --volume=paperlessngx-export:/usr/src/paperless/export \
    --volume=paperlessngx-consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume \
5

Hi, this is it.

This is what’s I’m editing.

Thanks,

1 Like
6

You could add it to the service, this way it’s persistent until next restore/update. Maybe @oneitonitram can add it to the next update release to make it fully persistent.

To edit the service:

runagent -m paperlessngx1 systemctl --user edit --full paperless-server

Add the following to the podman run command:

--env PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS={"invalidate_digital_signatures": true} \

so it looks like:

ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman run \
    --detach \
    --conmon-pidfile=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.pid \
    --pod-id-file=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.pod-id \
    --cidfile=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.ctr-id \
    --cgroups=no-conmon \
    --replace --name=%N \
    --env-file=smarthost.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/paperless-db.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/secret_key.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/paperless-ngx.env \
    --volume=paperlessngx-data:/usr/src/paperless/data \
    --volume=paperlessngx-media:/usr/src/paperless/media \
    --volume=paperlessngx-export:/usr/src/paperless/export \
    --volume=paperlessngx-consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume \
    --env PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS={"invalidate_digital_signatures": true} \
    ${PAPERLESS_NGX_IMAGE}

Restart the service.

If it doesn’t work, maybe you need to add it like explained here.

7

Good morning and thanks @mrmarkuz

It didn’t work:

2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:podman] Error: invalid reference format
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] paperless-server.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=125/n/a
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:podman] Error: reading CIDFile: open /run/user/1005/ns8-paperless-ngx.ctr-id: no such file or directory
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] paperless-server.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=125/n/a
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] paperless-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] Failed to start paperless-server.service - Podman ns8-paperless-ngx server.
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] Starting paperless-gotenberg.service - Podman paperless-gotenberg server...
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] paperless-server.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 63.
2025-11-04T07:12:36-03:00 [1:paperlessngx1:systemd] paperless-gotenberg.service: Control process exited, code=killed, status=15/TERM

The second option is what I was doing, but again, I have to enter it manually everyday!

Best regards,

1 Like
8

let me work on an Update for paperless, addressing some of the challenges youre facing, as well as other updates

3 Likes
9

Here it worked using

--env PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS="{\"invalidate_digital_signatures\": true}" \

ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman run \
    --detach \
    --conmon-pidfile=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.pid \
    --pod-id-file=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.pod-id \
    --cidfile=%t/ns8-paperless-ngx.ctr-id \
    --cgroups=no-conmon \
    --replace --name=%N \
    --env-file=smarthost.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/paperless-db.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/secret_key.env \
    --env-file=%S/state/paperless-ngx.env \
    --volume=paperlessngx-data:/usr/src/paperless/data \
    --volume=paperlessngx-media:/usr/src/paperless/media \
    --volume=paperlessngx-export:/usr/src/paperless/export \
    --volume=paperlessngx-consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume \
    --env PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS="{\"invalidate_digital_signatures\": true}" \
    ${PAPERLESS_NGX_IMAGE}
1 Like